Don't Fake This
by AmandaColyar
Summary: Lily Evans and James Potter have hated eachother for as long as anyone could remember. James is the schools biggest player and Lily is considered a bookworm by most. Will all that change when two of their friends start dating? L&J S&OC R
1. Chapter 1

Lily huffed. "He is so unbelievingly infuriating!"

Serena and Marlene, Lily's two best friends looked at each other with identical knowing grins and each sat down on their respective four posters, preparing themselves for a tirade they had heard many times before.

"I mean honestly, who does he think he is? A bloody god? He walks around this place like he's holier than thou, harassing innocent people-"

"I know he's your friend but I would hardly call Snape innocent." Serena interrupted but Lily continued as though she hadn't heard her.

"- and then he has the nerve to act like a cocky bastard. Really, I don't understand how everyone in this place looks up to him. He is a git. What would make him think I would ever date a guy like him? Just because every tramp in Hogwarts falls at his feet doesn't mean those of us with a brain and some common sense are going to." Finally she addressed Serena, "And Snape is no longer my friend, I don't know who that person is."

"Just forget about it." Marlene pleaded. "It's not the first time James' asked you out and I'm certain it won't be the last. I, for one, am exhausted from those exams and would like nothing more than to relax before we leave in a couple days." She tossed back a chunk of her short, dark hair and stretched out on her bed.

Lily plopped down on her own bed, sighing. "I just can't stand him."

"We know." Serena and Marlene said in unison, causing them all to break out in giggles.

Lily had a terrible temper that had a knack for showing up when James was around. Most of the girls at Hogwarts thought James was gorgeous, sweet, charming, and had an irresistible grin. Lily thought James was a hideous, egotistical jerk that was full of himself. They had hated each other for as long as anybody could remember, and as far as Lily was concerned, it was going to stay that way.

"Are you excited for summer vacation?" Serena asked nonchalantly.

"Ugh, no." cried Marlene. Her dark hair and almond eyes made Marlene the kind of beautiful that wasn't noticeable at first but quickly became are of. She was kind and soft spoken, a good listener and a good friend.

"Oh come on, what do you have to complain about?" Said Serena, "Another summer in France with your family, which in case you haven't noticed, you happen to have three very good looking brothers." Serena was a good looking witch with blond hair, blue eyes and a healthy figure. She was loud and obnoxious, but that was why Lily loved her. She was definitely the outgoing one of the group, if not a little promiscuous.

"Okay, ew. My brothers are anything but good looking; big, hairy, testosterone filled ogres the lot of them."

"Yum," Serena exclaimed, "I'd take those hunks for brothers any day. Still, hello, you're going to be in France. There will be loads of amazing boys with amazing French poetry to sweep you off your feet and plenty of shopping to keep you busy the entire time. I'm utterly jealous."

"Aw, but your forgetting; I have already been swept of my feet by the gorgeous, charming, sixth year, Ravenclaw Quidditch captain."

"Are you trying to make me feel better because let me tell you. It isn't working." Serena pouted.

"Besides, even if I was looking, you remember those aforementioned ogres. I forgot to say how overprotective and overbearing they are, all the time. What about you guys, what will you be doing this summer?"

"Being bored out of my mind, you Lils?"

"Absolutely nothing. It looks like you are going to have to have enough fun for all three of us Marlene."

Lily was not looking forward to her break. Sure, she loved her parents and was excited to see them after so many months but, just as it had in the years past that excitement would change into desperation to be back at Hogwarts after only a few short weeks. As the years went one, she felt less and less like she home was with her parents and more like Hogwarts was her true home. Her sister was an awful bint to say the least and did what ever she could to make Lily's life hell. No, Lily was not looking forward to her break.

-

"Way to go Prongs." Sirius exclaimed, giving James a high five.

"Thank you, Thank you very much." He said with a bow and a parade wave to his imaginary audience. He was pulled out of his daydream by being blindsided with Remus's pillow which he picked up and threw back it him.

"I don't think Lily was in the least bit amused." Remus said.

"Well I don't think I care about Evans or what amuses her in the least." He said with a chuckle. "Come on Moony, you have to admit, seeing that grease ball hanging in the air like that was hilarious."

"I admit it." All four of the Marauders were over come by laughter as they recalled the day's events.

Fifth year had gone by with out a hitch. Despite occasional screaming matches between Lily Evans and James Potter which often evolved to include Serena and Sirius screaming at each other, everyone would call it normal. No one could begin to anticipate what the next two years would bring. But everyone would look back on the end of the year and realize, yup, that's when it all begun.

Over the next few days the hatred that had always been between the two groups seemed to escalate beyond anything anyone could have imagined. The morning after the fifth years had finished their O.W.L.S. James felt the need to payback Lily for her little show out by the lake.

Lily and her friends woke early and got ready for their day. It was going to be a good one, full of lounging comfortably on the beautiful sunny grounds of Hogwarts with out a care. No classes to worry about, just time to waste. They were looking forward to it. As they made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast their chatted good naturedly. The common room was fairly empty as a large number of students opted to sleep in while they could.

"Hopefully we'll get lucky and we won't have to see those insufferable gits at all today." Serena said, they all smiled at the thought.

Unfortunatly, the girls had no such luck. Even though the Great Hall wasn't full for much of the same reason as the common room the Marauders were among the few of those who had showed up for breakfast. Although they looked up from their plates when the girls entered the hall, the girls choose to ignore them and continued down the hall right past them, taking their seats as far away as possible.

During breakfast Lily was mid way though the process of bringing her fork to her mouth when she looked down to see what once was a plate of pancakes had been turned into a plate of flobberworms. Their slimy little bodies writhing on her fork. She threw it down in shock. Her attention was called down the table when James, Sirius and Peter were all in hysterics while Remus just gave her a helpless shrug.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Serena.

Lily turned and looked at her with a furious look on her face. With out saying a word, she picked up her plate and walked over to where the Marauders were sitting. They all tried to stifle their laughter. As she approached them James said through his laughter, "How can we help you darling?"

Without a word she dumped the plate of flobberworms directly on James's head. Immediately the four friends sobered up and the entire hall went quiet. Everyone was waiting to see who would make the next move. James put the plate on the table. The look of him flobberworms in his hair would have been laughable if he didn't have murder in his eyes. Slowly, he brushed the worms off his shoulders and out of his hair, missing one which dangled at the side of his face. He stood up so that he was eye level with her, who mirrored the look in his eyes.

"You are such a bitch."

It was Lily's turn to laugh. "Don't dish it out if you can't take it, Potter." With a flip of her hair she moved to make her way around him and out of the Great Hall where every one continued to stare in silence. He grabbed her arm roughly and spun her around to look him in the eye again.

"Oh, I can take it. I'm just not sure you can take what I'm going to dish out next." His voice was loud and cocky, as though he were putting on a show for the occupants of the Great Hall.

"I'm looking forward to it. Are you sure you really want to be upstaged by a girl?" All Lily wanted to do was get out of there, she hated calling attention to herself like this but he knew she couldn't let Potter win this battle of the wits.

James looked around wildly before saying, "That's funny Evans, I don't see a girl around here. A troll maybe but nope, definitely no girls."

"Oh, and you're an authority on girls?"

"Damn right I am. I know girls left to right, up and down." He said slyly, bluntly looking her up and down.

"Funny, I've never seen you with a girl. Unless the tramps you're in the habit of spending time with are your piss poor examples of girls. Then again, I guess that would mean you're not much of an authority on girls, now wouldn't it."

"Oh now Evans," He replied obviously not even phased by her comments. "There is no reason to be jealous. If I've told you once, I've told you twice you could make me change me wicked, wicked ways." He said with a wink, to which Lily responded with a disgusted huff. "How about it? One date?"

"Not in this life time, sleaze bag." With that last comment she turned her back to him and walked out of the Great Hall. The entire room let out a collective breath and the room exploded with chatter.

James quietly took his seat and all of his friends looked at him expectedly before cracking up. Sirius grabbed the one remaining flobberworm that resided on James's head and dangled it in front of his face.

"You looked real intimidating with this dangling on your head mate." James grabbed it from him and flung it across the room causing a group of girls who had just entered the hall to shriek in disgust as it had landed at their feet. The Marauders took no notice.

Serena and Marie got up from where they had been sitting witnessing the whole exchange between Lily and James to follow their friend out of the Great Hall. As they passed the boys they wore identical looks of hatred.

"Piss off Starr." Sirius said irritably to Serena to which she only replied with a rude hand gesture.

"Hello Remus." Marlene said quietly.

"Ladies." He responded with a wave.

"What is wrong with those girls?" said James once they were out of earshot.

Remus shook his head. "Have you guys stopped to think maybe it isn't them? Maybe it is you who are the problem."

Sirius crossed his arms and pouted. "Us? Who doesn't like us? We are the greatest guys here."

"It's just a thought, besides, I get along with the girls fine."

"That's because you like Marlene." Sirius mumbled.

Remus kicked him hard underneath the table. "I do not! She has a boyfriend."

"Ouch. That hurt." He said rubbing his now sore knee cap.

"So what?" said Peter, "When has that ever stopped a Marauder."

"Just because I'm a Marauder doesn't mean I have to go around ruining relationships by having meaningless one night stands with every girl in Hogwarts, who is old enough to be aware of their sexuality, whether they are attached or not. Not that it matters because I don't like her. You know, it is possible to be friends with a girl a not want to get in her pants."

"No it's not." Said Sirius through a mouth full of food.

"I assure you, it is."

Sirius decided not to argue and opted for a subject change. He and Moony were just never going to agree on girls. "So, summer vacation in a few days? Excited?"

"What is there to be excited about? We do the same thing every summer. Spend it at my house."

Every year since they were twelve, the four boys had spent the summers at the Potters. They were truly brothers in every sense of the word. Only Sirius had any siblings and he was completely estranged from his family. Remus's parents had never actually shunned him but if he was being perfectly honest with himself he knew they preferred that he wasn't around, which was fine with him. Only James and Peter were even remotely close to their parents. The Potters spent most of their time away from home on various excursions, leaving James to his devices and Peter's parents allowed him to spend his time at the Potter's under the condition that he came home for a couple of days once a month. In fact, other than when Peter was visiting his family, the only time the boys were separated had been during a full moon. But they had solved that little problem at the beginning of this year.

"But this year is going to be great, I can feel it."

"You say that every year Padfoot."

After breakfast the boys made their way to the Black Lake. It was a beautiful day and many students had chosen to spend it outside; including Lily and her friends along with Brandon Writhers, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. James could see them from where he was seated with the Marauders. Lily was laughing at something Serena had just said.

He really didn't know how he and Lily had gotten off to such a bad start. Okay, he knew but he just didn't understand how it all turned out so bad…

'Wow, I hope there are more girls like this one at Hogwarts.' He thought. He put on a smile and directed his attention towards the family of three. "You must be looking for platform 9 ¾." He stated in his most polite tone of voice.

"Yes," said the girl in a confidant, almost superior tone though she didn't seem rude. "The letter I got said platform 9 ¾. I don't see any platform by that number. Would you be so kind as to show me the way."

"Sure thing." James casually leaned against the barrier and fell through to platform 9 ¾. He pushed the trolley carrying his trunk off to the side then went back through the barrier. "See, there is nothing to it." He had to control the urge to laugh at the look on the girl's face.

_"Yeah. Hopefully, bye." After James boarded the train he went searching for his best friend Sirius Black. They had meet five years before in preparatory school for young wizards and witches before they are old enough to attend Hogwarts. He found Sirius in the very last compartment. _

_"Hey Jamesie Boy how was your summer?" _

_"You should know, you were at my house the whole time." _

_"Yeah, I know, but that's just the thing you say on the first day of school. Like good morning in the morning. Besides you know I hate going home, my parents are cynical bastards."_

_"I know, I'm sorry." _

_"No biggie." _

_"At least yours would be there if you needed them, my parents are never even home." _

"_I know. Sorry man." Sirius laughed. "Tell me something good!"_

_"Well, I did meet a really pretty girl. She was nice too." Sirius was just about to ask more about this girl when the compartment door slide open. A boy with sandy blond, brown hair stood in the doorway. _

_"Oh sorry." _

_"Don't be." Said James. _

_"Would you like to sit with us?" invited Sirius. _

_"Uh, sure. Thanks. All the other compartments were full." _

_"Well, we were just talking about girls so come in and join the fun." The boy picked up his trunk and put it in the compartment. _

_"Wow. You're strong, do you work out or something?" _

_The boy looked shocked then answered with a shaky, "Um yeah, alittle. I'm Remus."_

_"James." _

_"Sirius." The boys shook hands in what they felt was a manly way. _

_"So about this girl."_

_"Well." James went on to tell them about Lily. About an hour after the train left the platform the boys decided to go find the old witch with the snack trolley and 'hopefully find some cute girls' as Sirius said. As the boys walked they stumbled across an open compartment. Sirius managed to peak in with out its occupants noticing. _

_"James, its been a while since we've had some real fun, hasn't it?_

_"Well, no, just two days ago-"_

_"I agree," Sirius cut James off, ignoring him. "Too long. Follow my lead." Sirius entered the compartment. _

_"Hello ladies." James and Remus entered after him. James saw Lily sitting with two other girls and smiled. She returned his smile as the other girls looked at the boys with raised eyebrows. _

_"How are you fine ladies?" James really wished Sirius would shut up. Then before the girls had a chance to reply Sirius took his wand from his robes and over dramatically tossed it on to the floor. "Oh darn," Sirius exclaimed. "Would you look at that?" He dramatically bent over to pick it up and turned his head slightly to look up the blond girl's skirt. Unfortunately for Sirius this act did not go unnoticed. The blond girl kicked him in the nose before he had a chance to move out of the way. "Bitch!" Sirius yelled, blood streaming down his face._

_"What the hell do you think your doing, asshole?" The girl barked in, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. Lily and the dark haired girl stood also. The blond girl pushed Sirius out of the compartment. James looked at Lily with a look of helplessness which she returned with a deadly glare. Remus followed a cursing Sirius back to their compartment. _

_"Look, I'm really sorry about him." James said to the three furious girls as Sirius's voice faded away. _

_Lily crossed her arms. "Get out!" _

_"Lily-" _

_"Wait," Said the blond girl, "You know him?" _

_"No." Lily said firmly. _

_Years later James would never know what made him say it but he blurted, "You know what, he was right, you're all bitches." _

_Lily stepped closer to James. "I said, get OUT!" She said as she kicked him in the shin, pushed him out of the compartment, and slid the compartment door closed._

Every encounter he had with Lily after that just went from bad to worse. He didn't mean to be such a jerk, at first he was just trying to get her attention. Every time he was around her he couldn't think clearly and ended just pissing her off.

After the incident on the train she seemed hell bent to ignore him at all cost. After a while he treated her that way just to see her angry. He loved the way she looked when she was angry. The color in her cheeks and the fire in her eyes; God, she was beautiful when she was angry. Though it wasn't until late in his fourth year that he understood exactly why he liked the way she looked when she was angry.

His fourth year was when he had lost his virginity. At a Gryffindor quidditch victory party he had a little too much to drink and ended up sleeping with an equally intoxicated fifth year. It was all down hill from there. Once he had told Sirius of his activities he was soon to follow. It was panoramic. Almost as though he and Sirius were having a race to see who could bed the most girls. At one point in the middle of this year Sirius had even convinced Remus of its appeal.

It only took one girl to ruin it for Remus. She ended up using his own guilt to rope him into a month long relationship then broke it off with him, much to his pleasure because ironically she felt they had nothing in common but sex.

Once James had experienced female arousal first hand he knew exactly what had attracted him to an angry Lily Evans. The two emotions looked almost exactly the same: flushed cheeks and passionate eyes. He didn't even care that it was passionate hate in her eyes. She felt passion nonetheless.

The man who was lucky enough to win her over would be in for a treat. He just knew it. She had so much pent up energy from being a goody-little-two-shoes that when some one finally lets that cat out of the bag she was sure to be a wild one.

James knew he couldn't let her get away with what happened in the Great Hall this morning. They would be leaving for a whole three months tomorrow and he just had to show her who's boss.

He looked back over to where she was sitting. Man, he loved her smile, it could light up and entire room. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone out loud.

"Come on guys, let's come up with a prank to get Evans back for this morning."

Despite Remus' objections, James, Sirius and Peter set out to concoct the perfect farewell prank.

Lily was glad they had this final day to just relax and spend time with friends before they had to leave for the wretched summer. She looked over to where Marlene and Bandon were sitting in each others arms. Marlene was the only who had ever had a real, lasting relationship. Serena was almost as bad as the Marauders when it came to sleeping around. Not that she was a bad person; Lily thought it had much to do with the need for attention and the desire to feel wanted. Though she would never say as much to Serena's face.

She herself did not date. She simply didn't have time. She was much too busy with school and prefect duties to even think about boys and relationships. At least that is what she would tell any one who asked. Not that is wasn't partially true. The other part she supposed was that none of the boys attracted her in the least. She would never admit it to herself but the Marauders all had dashing good looks and enormous ego's to boot. No, not dating suited her just fine; she didn't need those kinds of distractions.

The day passed with little fanfare which admittedly worried Lily. She had expected some kind of retaliation from James but it never came. The girls decided to tuck in early since tomorrow would be a big day. Lily just hoped it wouldn't be too eventful.


	2. Chapter 2

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. This is a story that I originally posted about four years ago but now I've gone back to revamp it and finish it this time. I want to take this time to quickly add a disclaimer (I don't own Harry Potter) This will be the only disclaimer I leave, I think too many authors notes take from the story, after all, your not here to listen to me ramble, you just want to read a good story, which is what I will try to give you. That being said this will be one of the few, if not the only AN throughout the fic. Again, enjoy. If you review with questions I will try to answer them. Happy Reading.

Amanda.

-

The girls woke early the next morning. Both Serena and Marlene still had some packing to do and naturally, Lily had finished hers the night before. Like every other morning it was a fight to the death over the shower. Lily, being an early riser never had any problems but the other girls fought nearly every morning. It didn't help that the three of them already had an ongoing feud with the other two girls in their room.

Dianne and Rachelle couldn't have been more opposite from the other fifth year Gryffindors. Prissy and whiny they avidly sought the attention and affection of the marauders though they were rarely successful.

Lily had just emerged from her leisurely shower to find Serena and Dianne bickering.

"- well at least I'm not a whore!" Dianne screamed at Serena.

"Oh really? That's not what Shane Towler said in Herbology last week. From what I understand you get around more than I do, not that you can ever convince anyone to come back for more."

"Screw you Starr." She replied, spitting venom.

"No thanks Seymour, I'd hate to get syphilis." Marlene laughed out loud at that comment.

Lily tried to put a stop to this before it got out of hand. "Alright you guys, just knock it off."

"Fuck off Evans." Was the reply, the instant she said had it, they all could tell Dianne regretted it. The three other girls looked back and forth between Lily and Dianne with wide eyes, just waiting for what was going to happen next. After a short silence Lily responded.

"Is that so? Well, I'll be sure to inform Professor McGonagall that you'll be spending the first night of your sixth year serving detention for cursing at a prefect. Is there anything else you would like to add?" Dianne kept her gaze pointedly on her feet. "No? Good, now hurry up and get the hell out of here."

The two girls quickly dressed and made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without even putting up a fight for the shower.

"Yes!" said Serena, punching the air. "Go Lily. I love having a prefect for a best friend."

"Cool it Serena, I should give you a detention too, why do you even bother with them?"

"She started it." Serena mumbled, crossing her arms across her chest in a pout.

"I don't care." Lily said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You should be a bigger person than those dimwitted twits."

"You wouldn't really give me detention, would you Lils?"

"Don't you try to butter me up." She paused and the girls continued to pack their things. Then she said suddenly, "No, I wouldn't give you detention."

"I love you."

"Yeah, yeah, don't push your luck."

The girls spent most of their morning finishing their packing and getting ready for the day ahead and the journey home.

The Marauders had just made their way down the stairs and exited the common room right in front of two fifth year Gryffindor girls who were talking irritably among themselves.

"I really do hate those bitches. I mean honestly, who does she think she is giving me detention?"

Their ears perked when they realized just exactly who Dianne and Rachelle were talking about.

"It's not like I'm afraid of her, because I'm not." Rachelle nodded her head in response but it didn't seem like Dianne was trying to convince her friend as much as she was trying to convince herself. "I just don't want anymore detentions and that Nazi gives them out like its going out of style."

James broke free from his pack of friends to walk ahead of them with the two girls. Slyly he put his arm around both of them and gave them each a cheeky grin before saying, "Now ladies you wouldn't be talking about Evans would you?"

Both girls were so quick to giggle hysterically at his comment that the shrillness of their voices almost caused him to cringe but he refrained. "How did you know?" said the brunette, Rachelle, flashing him what she must have thought was her best million watt smile.

"Well now, bitch and Nazi in the same statement who else could you be talking about." He said with a wink.

The two girls laughed again. James risked a look back at his friends who had cringed at the sound of the girls laugh.

"Too true." said the blond.

"Well don't you two worry about her; me and my friends over here will get her today on the train."

The girls giggled as he fell back to walk with his friends.

"Why did you do that Prongs?" Remus asked exasperatedly.

"What, I was just having a little fun."

This time Peter spoke, "You should know better than to encourage girls like them. They already want your attention, you royally screwed up now. If you thought it was bad before that's nothing compared to what you're going to be getting from them next. They already practically throw themselves at your feet."

"Thank you Peter, that's exactly what I was trying to get at."

James just shrugged and the boys continued down to breakfast.

-

After breakfast the entire student body made their way to the train. The girls found a compartment which unfortunately was right next to the compartment which held the Marauders. By the time they had realized this it was too late to get another one so they chose to ignore it and have a good time. Brandon, Marlene's boyfriend shared a compartment with them and they spent most of the first hour of the ride in comfortable silence. Lily was reading a book; Serena was staring out the window at the vast countryside and the happy couple just dozed in each others arms.

After a while, Marlene and Brandon stood up abruptly declaring they were going to find the treat trolley. Once they left Serena looked at Lily and laughed.

"What?"

"Oh come on, I know you can't be that naïve."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you really believe those two are off to find the trolley?"

"Well, why not? That's where they said they are going."

"The only sugar those two are going to get is from each other." Serena grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Just because every time you're alone with a guy you screw him, doesn't mean that every one around you is the same way."

Serena pouted, "Not every time." She paused to think. "Besides I'm best friends with Hogwarts number one virgin, so of course I know not every one is like me. Hell, you've probably never even been alone with a guy in the first place."

"Have too." Of course she had. Right?

"Oh really, who?"

"The point is-"

"That's what I thought."

Lily tossed her book as Serena's head which she expertly ducked.

When Marlene and Brandon finally returned to the compartment it was nearly a half an hour later. Both of them looked equally rumpled and wore guilty looks on their faces causing Serena to break out with laughter.

"What?" asked Marlene.

"Oh, nothing." She replied in a singsong voice. Then turned to Lily with a devious smirk and told her, "I told you so." To which Lily replied by sticking out her tongue at her best friend.

-

In the next compartment over the Marauders were playing a game of exploding snap, talking loudly and messing about.

"What about it Prongsie boy? Are we trying to pull anything on the girls before we leave the platform?" Sirius asked suddenly.

"Of course we are."

"What are you going to do?" asked Peter.

"I don't know, what do you guys think?"

"Count me out." Said Remus, "I refuse to take in any part of this and if you were being smart you would just let it be and leave those poor girls alone."

"Poor girls?" Sirius snorted.

"Come on Moony, they are _evil_. Evil, evil witches." Added James.

"They are nice to me."

"You're supposed to be on our side." Sirius pouted.

"I am on your side," Remus exasperated, "Just not when it comes to them." He added.

"So what are we going to do?" Said James.

"Just turn their hair blue or something and be done with it." Peter said flippantly.

"Are you kidding?" James exclaimed. "What are we third years? I know we can do better than that."

Peter just shrugged in response.

"Well now Prongs, he might be on to something." James looked at Sirius incredulously. "Hear me out. Why waste a lot of time concocting a wicked plan of action when instead, we could stick to a classic and very effective way to piss off Starr and Evans."

James shrugged. He'd have all summer to think up something really good for their return to Hogwarts. He just wanted Evans to know she couldn't get away with embarrassing him in front of the entire school.

"Let's do it."

-

The sound of shrieking laughter could be heard all throughout the platform. All around parents who were gathering together their children took a moment to focus their attention to the middle of the platform. Two girls which once had equally gorgeous hair, now each sported vibrant neon streaks. Three of the Marauders were laughing so hard they could barely stand while Remus stood as far away from the group as possible shaking his head as though he were disappointed in his friends.

The hysterical laughter of Dianne and Rachelle coming from across the platform nearly drowned out all other noise. Marlene and Brandon stood next to Lily and Serena looking very much like they were doing all they could to suppress their laughter.

"Black! Get over here now." Serena's voice called out over the laughter.

"Oy! You couldn't possibly think this my doing?"

"Are you quite sure about that?"

"Well, no."

"Hm." She said with a flick of her wand and an incantation whispered so quietly, no one heard it.

Sirius patted himself frantically trying to figure out what she possibly could have done. He didn't feel any different. Yup, all of his appendages where still intact; everything was in order as far as he could tell.

"Ha! You suck Starr." Serena just shrugged not looking to put out by the fact that her spell had seemingly no effect on the boy in front of her whatsoever.

"Potter!"

James broke away from his friends to walk up to Lily. "Yes?" he said with a dazzling grin.

She walked up to him with such a look on her face James nearly quivered in fright. Then, she did what he least expected. Her hand shot out and grabbed him hard in between the legs. He took a sharp intake of breath, his eyes wide with shock and pain, all traces of the grin he had worn only seconds before were immediately wiped clean.

"For the last time," she said in a deadly whisper, "Leave me the hell alone you parasite." And with one final squeeze she let go of him, did a quick spell to undo the damage to her and Serena's hair and turned her back on him to make her way off the platform.

James stood stock still for ten full seconds before turning back around to face his friends who all wore pained expressions and were clutching at their own crotches.

"Right," he said in an unusually squeaky voice. "Let's get going then."

-

Once Lily crossed through the barrier of the platform the reality of her actions hit her full force. Her actions shocked even herself; she had never been that ballsy in the past. She felt so disgusted with herself and immediately shook off her hand, wiping it on her jeans as though to rid herself of cooties. How could she have done something so bold in front of all those people? And if she knew Potter she knew that he would spend all summer planning a way to get her back for that little stunt.

"Oh my god. I cannot believe _you_ did that!"

"I know." Said Marlene, "That was something that-"

"I would have done." Serena finished, "I'm so proud of you." She said in awe.

"Come on guys, just forget about it. That incident is not one I want to hear repeated over and over. In fact, I'm just going to forget it all together."

"Like hell you are. That had to be one of the greatest moments of your life. I mean, did you see his face? I wouldn't be surprised if he finally got the message and will leave us in peace next semester."

"I couldn't even hope for such luck."

"Either way, I took care of Sirius." Serena said smugly.

"How?" her two friends asked simultaneously.

"He turned our hair blue, I turned his hair blue."

"What?" asked Marlene.

"No you didn't." Lily declared at the same time.

"Now, now girls. I didn't say it was the hair on his head."

The three girls all laughed. "What do you think he'll say when he figures it out?" Lily asked suddenly.

"Oh, he'll be in for a surprise."

The girls said their good-byes with promises to write. Lily walked over to where her parents were waiting patiently for her.

"Hello mom, dad." And now the count down begins, thought Lily, only three months to go.

-

The boys were beginning to worry. James hadn't said one word since they had left the platform and made their way to the Potter's. He just sat and stared into space with a dumbfounded look on his face. Several times they tried to get his attention with no avail. It was though he had checked out and nothing would snap him back into reality.

James didn't think it was possible to be anymore attracted to Lily than he had been the past five years but today he was attracted to her in a whole new way. Sure, they had their disagreements before but not to the scale they had been lately. Before he would always piss her off and she would just ignore him or often give him a simple "Piss off" or his favorite "imbecile" but recently it was as if she had found her voice and was willing and able to fight back. And he liked it, particularly this new frisky side that had emerged today.

She had spent too much time with that Starr girl. That had to be it, Lily's actions today spoke of Serena's flair, not her own. Serena was the vocal one, often ending up in screaming matches with Sirius in the middle of the common room. This Lily was saucy and brave and James didn't think he'd be able to handle much more of her like this.

Snap out of it, he said to himself. In his opinion he had done a pretty good job of hiding his infatuation with Lily from his friends. If he didn't put this out of his mind, at least for now, they would know something is up. Little did he know the Marauders were all well aware of his little crush.

Once they arrived at their destination they wasted away the afternoon relaxing and resting from their grueling fifth year. The house elves made them a scrumptious dinner which they ate until they all felt like they were on the brink of exploding. They trudged their way upstairs where they had two bedrooms with two beds each and one bathroom to share.

"Me first!" Sirius screamed running into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. The remaining boys shrugged and sat down for a game of wizards chess. Remus played James, not that James had any false ideas about beating him. Peter just watched.

They had only been playing for a few minutes before they heard Sirius' voice from the bathroom.

"That BITCH!" he suddenly emerged from the bathroom clad in only a towel.

"What?" The boys asked.

"S-she…" He stopped as though he didn't know quite what to say.

"What?" Peter repeated.

"Starr…. That bitch."

"Yeah, you said that already." James replied.

"What did she do?" asked Remus.

"She, she turned my…." He coughed "She turned my hair blue."

They all looked at him as if he was losing his mind. "I'm fairly certain we would have noticed that Padfoot." Both Peter and Remus nodded in agreement to James' statement.

"Um, no you wouldn't have, unless you make a habit of peeking at me naked." Sirius laughed. "Not that I would blame you, I mean, who could resist this." He added with a flex of his biceps.

The boys stared at him blankly before it hit all three of them at the same time like a freight train. Simultaneously they broke out in uncontrollable laughter; Sirius, remembering his dilemma frowned.

Through his laughing Remus, ever the logical one in the group said, "Just fix it."

"Well that's the problem isn't it? It won't go away."

Their laughter grew even louder.

"You mean," Peter paused, trying to catch his breath, "You're stuck with it that way."

His statement caused the boys to laugh harder. They were clutching at their sides, unable to even hold themselves up. Sirius crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's not funny guys. How am I going to explain that? It's not going to make for good pre-sex talk."

"Since when do you talk to anyone you have sex with?" Said Remus.

"You're right." He shrugged, "Oh well." With out further ado he went back into the bathroom leaving is friends to laugh at his expense.

-

As summer vacations have a way of doing, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and finally there was only two weeks left before Lily would be returning to Hogwarts for her sixth year. She had received many letters in the weeks passed. Some from Marlene who, of course was having a great time; most from Serena who had been just as bored as Lily the last two months. Fortunately, Serena had invited her to spend the last two weeks of their vacation at her house.

That's why Lily found herself in the entry way of her parent's home, sitting on her trunk, waiting, if somewhat impatiently for Serena to arrive to pick her up. She couldn't wait. It would mean she was one step closer to being back at Hogwarts. Back home.

She just hoped that time would have allowed Potter to forget about her reckless actions at the end of last semester and allow her to become inconspicuous again.

She could hope.


	3. Chapter 3

"Lily Evans, get your lazy ass out of bed this instant!" Serena's voice carved its way into Lily's dreams. Her wonderful, amazing dreams, she thought irritably. 

"Alright, I'm up. What's the big rush?" Lily asked groggily. 

"We have to hurry up and get down stairs for breakfast before we leave."

Two weeks had come and gone and it was time for the return to Hogwarts for their sixth year. Lily was excited if not a little apprehensive about going back. She spent all summer dwelling on her last encounter with Potter. Even though Serena had told her on many occasions to forget about it; she couldn't help but feel an impending sense of doom accompanying their return.

They had spent most of their two weeks together sunbathing by Serena's poolside and lounging around the house doing nothing and Lily was getting antsy. At first she was excited and intrigued to be in a household where magic was apart of daily life but it didn't last long. She wasn't the type to sit around and do nothing. Earlier in the week the two girls had gone to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies giving Lily some new reading material, without which she may have gone crazy before the two weeks was up.

Serena had teased her often about her need to read the books before the start of term. "You're just going to have to read them again during the year anyway, so what is the point?" She would say. She just didn't understand the advantage of knowing what was going to be taught before she actually learned it and Lily had given up trying to convince her years ago.

The girls got dressed and made their way to the kitchen where Serena's Grandmother had cooked them a large farewell breakfast. Lily loved Serena's family. Her grandmother and father were the only family she had. Serena's mother had died when she was very young. Lily had seen pictures and she could tell that Serena had taken her looks from her mother. She had always felt so sad when she had seen pictures of the three of them. They looked like such a caring, loving family.

Serena had never let her life get her down though. She had always been very optimistic and felt very fortunate that she had the loving family that she did. Lily looked up to her for her ability to be that way.

Serena's father entered the kitchen in his ministry robes. He grabbed a piece of toast and sat at the table with them briefly.

"I'm sorry I can't see you girls off today. Duty calls."

"That's okay Daddy." Serena said with a smile. Lily couldn't help but wish that she was as close with her own father. "Nanna's going to take us."

Having finished his toast he stood abruptly. "Write often, hunny." He said kissing her forehead.

"I will, I promise."

"I'll miss you, princess."

"I love you Daddy."

After giving his daughter another kiss he bid Lily good bye with an assurance that she was welcome anytime. She thanked him and after telling his mother bye he left for a long day at the ministry.

"Alright you two, we had better get a move on it."

Lily looked at her watch, thinking it was a little early but not minding in the least, as she was the queen of punctuality. Seeing her Serena laughed, "Nanna's always early. In fact, I don't think she has ever gone anywhere less than half an hour early." The two girls finished packing and went to the fireplace where they would be flooing to the platform. Serena's grandma shrunk their trunks with a wave of her wand and motioned for them to put them in their pockets.

-

Arriving at the platform they were one of the first few people there. The girls quickly put their trunks in a compartment and exited the train to say good bye to Serena's grandma. They stood around for a while, chatting away. Meanwhile the amount of people on the platform was starting to pick up. They saw Brandon enter the platform with his family. He looked over at them and they tried to wave him over to say hello; an act that was completely ignored on his part. They looked at each other with equally questioning looks then shrugged, deciding he must have not realized it was them or something. There had to be a reasonable explanation. Deciding they should return to their compartment before it was snagged by a first year they said their good byes to Grandma Starr.

Just as they were getting ready to board the train Serena saw Marlene enter the platform from the corner of her eye. Giving Lily a tug and a nod in Marlene's direction the two girls changed their route to Marie instead.

When they reached Marlene she instantly dropped her luggage and opened her arms for a hug. The two other girls obliged, giggling. 

"We've missed you so much!" and "It was so boring all summer without you guys!" the girls were all saying simultaneously to each other until an unwelcome voice sounded behind them.

"Oh Siri, I've missed you so much never ever leave me again!" said James Potter in his best high pitched, girlie voice. 

"Don't worry Jamsie! I won't go anywhere!" Exclaimed Sirius Black, pulling James into a hug; the two boys giggled horribly. 

"Sod off Potter." Lily huffed, clearly not in the mood for the Marauders. All ideas of her going back to being inconspicuous again flew right out the door when she took one look of him mocking her. She couldn't understand why James continually picked her, out of everyone around him to annoy. If he could learn to just leave her alone she wouldn't have to waste so much time and energy fighting with him all the time.

"Oh Lily you know you can't resist my charming smile and sexy muscles!" Said James flexing his biceps. Lily just rolled her eyes and begun walking to the train. She suddenly felt a weird prickling sensation all over her body. She looked down to see white lilies sprouting from her skin. She turned to James who was doubled over in laughter, using Sirius to hold himself up who looked like he was having trouble standing as well.

"You'll pay for that you stupid egomaniac!" Lily exclaimed after using a simple charm to clear her from the lilies. With that she stormed off, her friends close behind her. 

"I'm looking forward to it." He called out after her.

-

"Damn," Lily said once the girls returned to their compartment. "I thought for sure that after last year they would leave us alone."

"Oh come on Lily." said Serena.

"What?"

"Why would you think that standing up to them would do anything but provoke them further? I've always stood up to Sirius and that has never done anything but give him more of a reason to bother me."

"Personally, I think it's more fun when you fight back." Marlene said.

"That's because they never do anything to you." Lily said a bit harshly.

"Hey, I've been on the receiving end of a Marauder prank or two."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you. I'm going to go find Brandon. I'll see you guys in a few."

She left the compartment on the two girls looked at each other. "And then there was two." said Lily.

"Again." added Serena.

After a few minutes Marlene returned to the compartment minus Brandon.

"Where's Brandon?" Serena asked her.

"I don't know. I couldn't find him."

"That's weird." Said Lily, "Did you find his friends?"

"Yeah, but they hadn't seen him either."

"He's on the train; Lily and I saw him enter the platform."

"I guess I'll just have to see him later, when we get to Hogwarts."

"That just gives you more time to catch up with us." Serena reasoned.

-

The hours passed and before they knew it the train had arrived at Hogwarts. Marlene had held on to the hope that Brandon would show up at some point throughout the train ride but he never did. As they entered the Great Hall she looked around for his tall stature, finally finding him already seated at the Ravenclaw table.

She sent him a wave and a smile which he acknowledged with a nod of his head before turning his attention back to his friends.

"Does that ever piss you off?" Serena asked her as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"What?"

"That one of your boyfriend's best friends is a girl? And a slut at that?"

"Not really. I trust him. They're just friends."

The Marauders entered the Great Hall. James sent Lily a wink and a smirk which Serena took upon herself to return with a rude hand gesture which Sirius returned before the boys took their seats.

The feast was just as wonderful as it had been every other year. Lily was glad to be back, she couldn't wait to start class in morning. The girls chatted casually with one another, Marlene sneaking peeks to the Ravenclaw table every couple of minutes when she thought the girls wouldn't notice. Once the entire hall was stuffed and ready for their nice, comfortable beds the headmaster stood and gave his yearly speech.

Afterwards, Lily and Remus left their friends to show the new first years the way to the common room.

"Hey Lily." Remus said to her as they walked ahead of the group of shy kids.

"Hey Remus, how was your summer?"

"Like every other one, yours?"

"Likewise."

"Listen," he started apprehensively, "I know I've said this before but I'm really sorry about James and Sirius. I try to discourage them but, well you know them."

"Thank you, but you don't need to apologize for those idiots."

"I know but still, we're friends and I don't want you to confuse me with an enemy."

Lily laughed, "I don't."

They continued to lead the pack in silence. When they reached Gryffindor Tower it was full of people. They both looked around for their friends but neither was successful so they decided to sit together and catch up.

-

When the rest of the Marauders entered the common room they headed upstairs to wait for their friend. They spent quite a while just laughing and joking around before Peter finally said, "It's been awhile," looking at his watch, "Remus should have been back by now."

"I'll go check the common room." James volunteered.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs he stopped at the sound of Lily's laughter. He could pick her laugh out of a crowd, it was a beautiful sound. Looking around for her he spotted her sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. The flames lit up her vibrant hair, making it stand out beautifully. She wasn't alone. Sitting right next to her was his best friend. Talking quietly and making her laugh was his best friend. Looking in her lit up eyes as she touched his arm gently was his best friend.

"Remus!" he said suddenly causing nearly everyone still in the common room to jump. "Come on." He said to his friends once he had his attention. Both Remus and Lily looked up at him in surprise.

Remus bid Lily goodnight and met James at the bottom of the stairs. The two boys went to their dorm in silence.

"Hey," said Sirius when they entered, "Where were you."

"In the common room with Lily." Remus replied simply.

"Hey, do you guys want to play exploding snap?" asked Peter.

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to bed." James said before pulling the curtain around his bed closed.

His friends all looked at each other in bewilderment.

Behind his curtains James laid in the dark thinking. He didn't know why he'd reacted in such a way. He knew the two of them were just friends but for some reason his jealous mind had a way of making it seem more culpable then it really was.

It was just; he wanted to be the one to make her laugh. For some reason the only emotion he ever seemed to evoke in her was anger. He sometimes wished he could start all over with her.

Man, he thought, I really need to find a girl. I can't go on thinking about her all the time. And with that final thought he fell asleep.

-

Lily entered the sixth year girl's dormitory to find both Serena and Marlene sitting on her bed talking to one another. Their roommates were no where to be found.

"Hey guys." She greeted.

"Hey Lils." Came the reply.

"Did you ever get a chance to talk to Brandon?"

"No," said Marlene, "He left the Great Hall so quickly that by the time I got through the crowd he was gone."

"I guess you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see him."

"I suppose."

The girls stayed up until Lily insisted they go to bed or they would be too tired in class the next morning.

-

"Ugh. Double potions first thing in the morning, we really need to have a talk with ol' Minnie." Sirius put his head back down on the table trying to fit in a couple more minutes of sleep.

"You should probably start by not calling her that within earshot." Remus told him.

"Meh." Sirius waved him off.

"We should get going." Remus announced to his friends, standing up and collecting his books.

The other boys all looked at each other. Sometimes they wondered how a Marauder could be so sensible. It just wasn't right.

Class with the Slytherins was always an event. Lily had often wondered why the teachers didn't just give up and refuse to have classes with both the Marauders and the Slytherins. She supposed they were hoping the boys would grow out of it, though she couldn't imagine where they'd get an idea like that.

When the girls reached the corridor of the potions classroom they were greeted by the four Marauders in a face off with four Slytherins all of them clutching their wands waiting to pounce on each other.

"Boys!" Lily shouted. None of them so much as looked her way.

"Knock it off." She said stepping between them. The Slytherins all smirked.

"If you think we have any qualms about hexing a mudblood you would be sorely mistaken." A tall blond boy spat at her.

"Don't-"

She cut James off. "If you think I have any qualms about giving you detention, think again." She turned to the Marauders before they could respond. "Get in the classroom." None of them moved, they all kept their gaze on the group in front of them. "I said go!"

Deciding it was better to just get to class than have to fight Lily the boys all loosened their grip on their wands and turned to walk into the classroom. Lily nearly let out a sigh of relief, glad they didn't put up an argument. From behind her a Slytherin said, "Aw, cousin listen to your mummy like a good puppy." All of the Slytherins laughed.

Before Lily had time to react Sirius had raised his wand and sent a hex at Bellatrix Lestrange. Foreseeing this attack Snape came after Sirius with his wand raised. James stopped him in his tracks with a punch to his nose. He would have continued to hit him if Remus hadn't held him back.

"Stop!" Everyone froze and looked up to see Professor Slughorn who had just entered the corridor.

"Detention, Friday night all of you! Now get in the classroom."

"Professor-" Lily began but he cut her off.

"You too Miss Evans, I must say I'm disappointed in you. Now take your seat."

She couldn't believe it. And neither could anyone else. She'd never had detention. In six years she had never had one detention and now, her reputation was blemished by Potter and his baboons. All through the double period of potions she sat in silence, shocked. She could barely bring herself to pick up her quill and write notes.

Her friends didn't say anything either. What could they say? When the period finally ended she stood up hastily and marched out the door without one word or look at her friends.

-

"Do you think Lily's okay?" Marlene asked Serena after they had left the classroom.

"I don't know."

Remus approached them cautiously. "Uh, hey guys."

"Hey Remus, what's up?" Marlene said with a smile.

"Can you guys apologize to Lily for me? I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand."

"We know. We'll talk to her." Serena answered.

"Thanks."

"I'm going to go look for Brandon, I'll see you later." Marlene waved them goodbye with a smile.

"Good luck." Serena called out after her.

Remus looked at her quizzically but Serena just shook her head in response.

"Why do you guys always let those gits get to you?"

Remus shrugged. "There are a lot of reasons."

-

Marlene decided to go check the Ravenclaw common room for Brandon. Most everyone knew they were dating and some one would usually let her in. Just as she reached the portrait he exited the common room with a couple friends.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Marlene," said one, "We'll see you later." His friends left with a wave leaving Marie and Brandon alone in the hallway.

She smiled at him, "Hey babe. Where have you been?"

He hugged her and said, "Around."

"Oh, I missed you."

"I missed you too."

It was awkward between them for a couple minutes though Marlene didn't know why. Then like a switch it was as though they had never been apart. They both decided to skip lunch and spend the break in his room.

Marlene decided she didn't want to ruin their time together but made a mental note to confront him about why he had been acting so strange.

She met back up with her friends during History of Magic that afternoon. Lily still wasn't speaking and spent the whole period fiercely scribbling down notes. Luckily Serena was feeling chatty or Marlene would have been bored out of her mind.

"I'm assuming that since you weren't at lunch you found Brandon."

"Yup." She answered with a smile.

"What was up with him?"

"I don't know, he was acting strange for a while but then it was normal again."

"You didn't ask him about it?"

"I will later."

-

That evening when the girls retired to their dorm Lily broke her silence.

"I can't believe I got detention! Honestly, what did I do wrong? Nothing. If those stupid boys would have kept their stupid egos in check then I wouldn't have a stupid detention that I don't deserve."

"That's a lot of stupid." Serena laughed.

"This isn't funny."

"Oh, right, sorry."

"I hate Potter."

"We know." The other two girls said simultaneously.

They went to bed early that night, all of them exhausted from a very long first day back.


	4. Chapter 4

The first week back at Hogwarts went by like a blur. Lily spent every moment she could blaming James for her detention. This meant that all of Gryffindor Tower had to endure argument after argument. These fights usually caused a chain reaction which meant Serena and Sirius would follow the lead of their friends and fought just as often. The rest decided to just stay out of the whole mess. Marlene spent a lot of time away from the common room with Brandon. And Remus and Peter usually busied themselves with homework trying to tune out the screaming insults.

Friday had finally come, a time when most were looking forward to the weekend ahead. Instead all Lily had to look forward to was the dreaded detention. She couldn't wait to finally get it over with and go back to being a model student. Every one of her teachers had heard she had detention and everyone took it upon themselves to chastise her in front of the entire class which only added insult to injury.

Lily was sitting in the common room with her two friends, complaining to them once again about her detention. They were really getting tired of hearing about it and couldn't wait for it to be over with.

"Why don't you just not go? It could be like you protesting the detention." Marlene suggested.

"Oh right. So I can accumulate another detention, like one isn't bad enough. Let's tarnish my reputation even more. The maybe I could stop doing all my homework. Hell, I'll just stop showing up for class at all." Lily replied sarcastically.

"Never mind." Marlene mumbled.

"Just go and get it over with Lily. We are sick of you being in a bad mood so just go and put it all behind you so we can go back to talking about anything else."

Lily looked shocked at Serena's outburst. "I'm sorry, you're right. I better get going, see you later."

"Bye."

"Bye Lils."

Lily walked down the corridors in a horrible mood. She didn't know what to expect and she wasn't looking forward to it. She knew her friends were getting tired of hearing her complain but she just could help it. The injustice of the entire situation irritated her.

She arrived before anyone else had shown up. Entering the classroom she was greeted by the sight of Professor Slughorn snoring loudly, quill in hand and drool all over the pieces of parchment he was grading. She coughed in hopes that the sound would startle him awake but was unsuccessful.

"Uh, P-professor?"

He jerked up suddenly and called out, "Like I've said Albus, it's really my time to retire." His eyes were unfocused, clouded with sleep. When he finally realized it was not the headmaster but in fact his favorite student standing in front of him he gave a chuckle.

"Miss Evans, here to serve your detention I presume."

"Yes Sir," she replied through clenched teeth; barely resisting the urge to argue over his giving her detention. Her classmates chose that very moment to show up. Slughorn divided up tasks; the Slytherins would be helping Filch while the Gryffindors would be staying in the potions classroom to do various jobs. Remus and Peter had to scrub the floors and the desks; Sirius has a sink full of dirty cauldrons to scrub clean leaving James and Lily to clean the storage cabinet, dusting the shelves and throwing away all the out of date potions ingredients.

Lily cursed her luck. Fate it seemed was determined to screw her. Not only was she stuck serving a bogus detention she had to spend it in the company of the biggest prat in school. Without a word or a look in his direction she immediately climbed up the ladder, rag in hand, to being on the top shelf.

**A/N: Sorry it's short, I'll give you guys more before the weekend is over.**


End file.
